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Kensington Palace publishes Prince William’s Middle East visit schedule

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Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge will begin the first ever Royal visit to Israel at Yad Vashem, Kensington Palace confirmed yesterday.

Details of the Prince William’s upcoming visit to the Middle East were published by Kensington Palace yesterday afternoon. The Duke will visit Yad Vashem, the world holocaust remembrance centre, on the Morning of 26 June, the day after he arrives in Jerusalem from Jordan. “His Royal Highness will receive a short tour of the museum before meeting with a survivor of the Holocaust and the Kindertransport who will share their personal experiences with him,” a Kensington Palace statement said.

Prince William will also attend a wreath laying ceremony at Yad Vashem, accompanied by British Chief Rabbi Efraim Mirvis.

From Yad Vashem, the Duke will meet with Israeli President Reuven Rivlin and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu before travelling to Jaffa to meet young people involved in two organisations focused on co-existence, the Equaliser and the Peres Centre for Peace.  Prince William’s schedule in Tel Aviv includes plans to “meet young entrepreneurs, view vibrant tech and media sectors, witness historic cultures being protected and interpreted for the 21st century, and meet people from a variety of backgrounds”. Kensington Palace said the visit will have “a particular focus on young people”.

On Wednesday 27 June Prince William will meet with Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah and attend an event focussing on refugees and exploring Palestinian food and culture. The next day, he will visit the Old City of Jerusalem and potentially visit the holy sites with exact details to be confirmed.

When the visit was announced, Netanyahu said that the Duke of Cambridge would be “received here with great affection,” while Rivlin said he looked forward to welcoming “a very special guest, and a very special present for our 70th year of independence”.

Abbas’s Office said it “welcomes this important visit, which we hope will contribute to strengthening ties of friendship between the two peoples”.

Prince William will begin the tour in Jordan’s capital Amman on Sunday 24 June, before traveling to Jerash on 25 June, Jerusalem, Jaffa and Tel Aviv on 26 June, Ramallah in the West Bank the next day and finally Jerusalem again on 28 June.

BICOM recently published a briefing about the history of Royal visits to the area and the significance of the first official Royal visit to Israel.